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Sweet and Sour Memories
We step into
the dimly lit haze
of the Oriental restaurant.
We're met by the
watery chicken smell
of egg-drop soup
and the sizzle of frying meat.
We are seated
in a red vinyl
(they are always vinyl) booth.
We sit beneath
the paper lantern
of gold, red, green
with red tassles
and read the red menu
with gold Oriental lettering.
My companion wonders aloud
about the meaning of the characters.
We order drinks
in white, ceramic Buddhas
with brightly colored
rice paper umbrellas.
The lilting twang of music
comes from the reel-to-reel
on the shelf behind
the wooden-beaded curtain.
We eat the food-
warm and sweet and spicy-
how hard to imagine
living on rice.
We crack our crunchy fortune cookies,
and laugh:
(in bed)
---CCC 12/90